Sophus Helle is a literary historian and translator specializing in the narrative poetry of ancient Iraq, especially the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh and the Sumerian poems of Enheduana, who was the first known author. His interests include ancient world literature, depictions of humanity, the epic genre, authorship, gender and sexuality, and narratology.

Associated research projects at EXC Temporal Communities:

The Music of Time: Temporal Tensions in Premodern Epics (2023-)

The Poetics of Philology: A Case Study of the Babylonian Epic Enuma Elish (2021-2023), The project is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation